European Union

The European Commission adopted its intellectual property plan in November, hailed as a driver of future growth, but the plant breeding sector remains divided over the potential of intellectual property rights for spurring on much-needed agricultural innovation.

The European Commission on Tuesday banned the export of plastic waste from the EU to non-OECD countries, except for clean plastic waste sent for recycling. This is part of the new rules applying on the export, import and intra-EU shipment of plastic waste. Last year, the EU exported 1.5m tonnes of plastic waste, mostly to Turkey and Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, India and China.

A new study has found microplastics in the placentas of unborn babies for the first time, with scientists concluding that the particles are likely to have been ingested or breathed in by the mothers, The Guardian reported on Tuesday. "Due to the crucial role of [the] placenta in supporting the foetus's development, the presence of potentially harmful plastic particles is a matter of great concern," researchers said.

President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday (22 December) he had seen no evidence that a massive cyber-attack against the United States is under control and warned that the breach will not go unanswered once he takes office on 20 January.

France has resumed transport links with the UK, on condition travellers get a negative test result, as the EU tries to contain a new type of Covid-19.

France's top administrative court, the Council of State, ruled on Tuesday that there was "serious doubt over the legality" of police drones surveillance of demonstrations urging Paris police to halt the practice "without delay", the BBC reported. The ruling comes amid parliamentary discussions over a controversial security bill that includes police use of drones. Privacy groups argue that the use of drones to police protests violates freedom of expression.

The European Union's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, told EU ambassadors in Brussels on Tuesday that divisions over fisheries in the Brexit negotiations remain, Reuters reported. Barrier described the latest offer on sharing out fish catches from 2021 as "totally unacceptable". The EU is willing to cut the value of fish caught in UK waters by around 25 percent, while Britain is demanding a 30-35 percent cut, said a diplomat.

Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres he will be unable to take up the role as United Nations Libya envoy next year due to “personal and family reasons,” a UN spokesman said on Tuesday (22 December).

UN humanitarian affairs coordinator Mark Lowcock said on Tuesday that European countries would be dealing with Covid-19 in 2022 and beyond, as low-income countries are only expected to gain access to vaccines late next year, The Guardian reported. "It is highly likely the places where the virus finds it is easier to survive longest will be fragile, conflict-affected states with weak institutions, but the virus can get everywhere," Lowcock said.

President Donald Trump granted a full pardon on Tuesday (22 December) to George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty as part of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The Polish government is on the hunt for securing yet another stream of subsidies to its coal industry, two weeks after EU leaders agreed on an enhanced climate target by 2030. But the European Commission can stop this, Elif Gündüzyeli and Joanna Flisowska write.

E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the EU and less than 40% is recycled. Check out the facts and figures in our infographics.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the EU and less than 40% is recycled. Check out the facts and figures in our infographics.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Kremlin-linked businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has sued Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and a close ally for defamation, a Moscow court said Tuesday (22 December).

Spain's Senate approved Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's budget for 2021 on Tuesday (22 December), boosting his minority Socialist-led government after years of political instability.

The EU has rejected the latest UK offer on fishing but is ready to pursue a post-Brexit trade deal even beyond the end of the year, diplomats said on Tuesday (22 December).

Jose Manuel Barroso was European Commission president before and after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in December 2009. He discusses how it impacted his work and the broader implications for an expanding European Union.

"Both referenda weren't about the constitution," Guy Verhofstadt says. "In France, it became a referendum on Jacques Chirac. In the Netherlands, it was about whether they paid too much - something some Dutch politicians have been repeating for 10 years."

It might have made sense economically, but the infamous Bolkestein Directive directly foreshadowed later tensions over migrant workers and highlighted social anxieties that became more dominant after the 2009 economic crisis.

Unfortunately, enforced disappearances are continuing to occur around the world and there is an additional risk of states using the pandemic and associated states of emergency as cover for enforced disappearances.